Sandstorm Shelter
by Angel-chan Desu
Summary: The Route 4 sandstorms were always pain for trainers. At least they had some shelter and a friend to wait it out with. KuroShipping tease. *Done by request for a friend*


Hilbert made sure to tighten the scarf around the lower half of his face, to check his hat was secure, to ensure his jacket was sealed and airtight before stepping onto Route 4. Yet even with such precautions, the disturbed sand still stung any area of bare skin it could find. All he could do was pull his hat further over his eyes and bury his hands into his pockets before continuing to brave the sandstorm-struck route. While he really wanted to hurry to his next destination - Nimbasa City, the heart of leisure and entertainment in Unova - he couldn't help but stray off the main path. Considering the next gym was an Electric gym, he figured it'd be a smart idea to snag a Ground type, have an advantage.

However as he trawled through the deep sand, with his head down and hat covering his eyes, he wasn't entirely aware of his surroundings, and wound up bumping into someone and falling backwards into the sand. As the boy shook the sand from his hair - his hood having slipped back - and coughed up sand - from his scarf falling from his face - the person he'd collided with seemed to recognise him, as they asked, question muffled no doubt from their own scarf, "Hilbert? That you?"

The teen glanced up, angling his hat to try and protect his eyes while also trying to squint at the other person, trying to identify them. It wasn't till they leaned closer, hand outstretched, that he could faintly make out the figure to be Cheren, dressed in attire similar to what he himself had donned for traversing the route.

"Come on, there's a worker's hut not far from here!" he shouted, motioning for Hilbert to take his hand, "They should let us take shelter there for a little while!" Hilbert quickly grabbed his scarf with one hand, Cheren's waiting hand with the other and, holding the scarf against his mouth, shouted back, "Lead the way, please!"

* * *

Fortunately for the boys, the workers of a nearby hut allowed them to stay inside, until the storm calmed - and only calmed, for the Route 4 sandstorm never really stopped. The workers had to leave to continue working, however they left the two with bottles and bowls of water to help them clean themselves up. Hilbert had already drained three of the bottles left for them and Cheren was mainly focused on getting the sand out of their clothes.

As the boy seated on one of the beds tipped the sand from his shoe, Hilbert, already making a start on his fourth bottle of water, said, his voice hoarse, "That's...that's a rough storm." His friend only nodded as he then moved onto the brunet's shoes, emptying the sand from them into the trash can. Cheren grimaced at the volume of sand pouring from his friend's shoe, significantly more than what came from his own. He asked, "Why exactly were you in the sand? If I may ask." Hilbert chuckled nervously, "I was trying to find a Sandile. Next gym's an Electric so..." He clicked his tongue, then took a long swig of his water.

"Fair enough," was all Cheren could mutter under his breath, as the sand continued pouring. The brunet lowered the water, then paused before pulling out one of his Poké Balls and asking, "D'you think they'd mind if we let out our pokémon?" Cheren shrugged.

"They shouldn't, unless you have something that would cause a mess." This prompted Hilbert to place his water on the table next to him and he pulled out three more Poké Balls. Tossing them to the floor, he released his team; his trusty Dewott, his Pansear, his Purrloin, and a Pidove, a new addition to the team since last time Cheren had battled his friend. He raised an eyebrow at the Purrloin, who began batting playfully at the edge of its trainer's trousers.

"Your Purrloin hasn't evolved yet?" he asked, finally moving onto the other shoe. Hilbert chuckled again, "Yeah, I haven't really been using her much in battle." Cheren's already raised eyebrow twitched. "Her?"

"Yeah, the nurse at the Castelia City Pokémon Centre said she's a girl. My Pidove too." The dark haired boy nodded as he followed what the boy was saying, then asked, "Speaking of which, when'd you get her?" The brunet pursed his lips in thought as the pokémon in question flew to perch at the edge of the table near her trainer, then answered, "Route 3. After we fought them Team Plasma goons in Wellspring Cave." They fell silent, neither sure of what to say, and instead watched as Purrloin turned her attention from her trainer's clothing to a stray piece of paper on the floor until Cheren finished emptying Hilbert's shoes and tossed them to the boy, spooking the feline pokémon. The boy laughed at her reaction, giving her a quick scratch behind the ear as he murmured, "Thanks."

"You weren't going to do it," Cheren said, pulling his own shoes back on, "Not until you'd finished off every bottle of water first." Hilbert rolled his eyes at this, albeit with an amused look on his face. Then as his Purrloin jumped onto his lap, he asked, "What about your Purrloin? Or could I say 'what about your Liepard' and be correct?" The boy didnt respond, only pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it, allowing the creature released to answer the question for him; his Liepard walked up to Hilbert, it's focus the Purrloin on his lap. It sniffed the pokémon curiously, while Purrloin purred cheerfully.

"I think she likes it," her trainer laughed. He then asked with a broad smile, "What about your others?" A small smile appeared on Cheren's face as he took three more Poké Balls from his jacket pocket, saying, "Well, like yourself, I've got a new teammate." He released them one at a time, giving the trainers a chance to see the reactions of Hilbert's pokémon to their appearance. First his Servine; Hilbert's Dewott regarded the Grass type nonchalantly before promptly ignoring it, preferring instead to look over one of its shells.

Next, his Panpour; unlike Dewott, who'd been rather cold to Servine - not that Servine minded being ignored as it ignored the Water type in return - the two monkeys greeted each other warmly, and their trainers shared similar looks of satisfaction at the greeting.

And his final pokémon made Hilbert laugh, as the Pidove immediately flew up and perched itself on Cheren's head, to his annoyance.

"I don't know what's funnier," the brunet laughed, the force of his laughter scaring his Purrloin off his lap, "the fact that we both have a Pidove or that it's on your head like that." Cheren rolled his eyes and, brushing his Pidove off his head, muttered, "Yeah, it's a real cute quirk of his." Having been removed from Cheren's head, his Pidove then flew to join Hilbert's on the table, making the trainer laugh again.

"'His'? Damn, we better hope these two don't get cosy together then, or we'll have to check them into the Day Care." This made Cheren turn a faint pink colour and he said, "That shouldn't be necessary." This was then quickly turned against him as his Pidove crooned softly to the other, who then rubbed her head against his neck, making Hilbert laugh again and Cheren blush turn a darker shade.

* * *

**Okay!**

**A few wee things to say. First off, I don't necessarily ship this. I'l****l admit its a cute ship, but this was written for a friend who hardcore ships this. Like this is their OTP you guys. I'm more neutral toward it, like I acknowledge it and if its featured in a story I'm reading, I wouldn't mind.**

**Second, I wrote this a fair while back, back before real life became a pain in the butt and my semi-permanent writer's block set in. So that's why the writing style might be a bit different to my most recent stories.**

**So yeah.**

**My friend gave permission to me to post this so I've done so, and I hope youse enjoyed it as much as they did.**

**I do have some other request done oneshots that I did for friends a while back that I'll also be posting.**

**Until then!**

**Angel-chan x**


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